Braided sleeving is a low-cost way to add a professional look and feel to your electronics project. It can be frustrating to work with, but it’s pretty simple once you have the proper tools and techniques. In this tutorial, I’ll walk through the process of applying braided sleeving to a brushless motor and ESC. Tools Read more about Braided Sleeving Tutorial and Tips[…]

I was recently looking for an indoor FPV quad and stumbled across the AcroBee by NewBeeDrone. The AcroBee is a compact, lightweight brushed quadcopter in the spirt of the classic Tiny Whoop, but with a feature set that rivals flight controllers typically found on larger FPV quads. I picked up a kit almost two months Read more about NewBeeDrone Acrobee Review[…]

Disclaimer as of this writing: I work for Microsoft as a software engineer on the team responsible for HoloLens and Mixed Reality devices. This is entirely my own project, completed in my spare time, and is not sponsored by Microsoft. Furthermore any opinions about products, technologies, coding advice, and API usage patterns are entirely my Read more about Controlling a Quadcopter with Hand Gestures[…]

The RunCam Split 2 by RunCam is the second iteration on the only viable solution that marries an FPV camera with an HD action camera using a single lens. This is an attractive offering for those looking to consolidate their builds. It’s also ideal for getting HD recording capability on smaller frames. I thought it Read more about RunCam Split 2 FPV+HD Camera Review[…]

In Part 2 of this series we took a look at how LiPo cells behave electrically over a discharge cycle. There were a few observations (like voltage sag) that can’t be explained by applying Ohm’s Law directly. Internal resistance is a metric that aims to explain some of these properties. Why is Internal Resistance Important? Read more about LiPo Characteristics Part 3: Internal Resistance[…]

The Taranis X9D Plus Special Edition is functionally equivalent to the regular X9D+ but features a few key upgrades I’ll discuss in this review. You can buy it on most of the usual sites like GetFPV, Banggood, etc for $249.99 USD. I had to search high and low to find the carbon fiber finish and Read more about Taranis X9D Plus Special Edition Review[…]

In the previous post of the series, I outlined some basic information about this study. In this post, I’ll start diving in to the data to see what it tells us about LiPo characteristics. I’d recommend you give part 1 a read to familiarize yourself with the method I used to collect data. A word Read more about LiPo Characteristics Part 2: Electrical Properties[…]

I recently picked up a set of Rotor Riot’s Hypetrain Freestyle 2306 2450Kv motors for my freestyle quad build. Rotor Riot designed them and T-Motor manufactured them. They offer a unique and elegant design and claim to have a good power-to-efficiency ratio. You can get the hypetrain motors for $25.99 USD each from Rotor Riot’s Read more about Rotor Riot Hypetrain Motors Review[…]

Introduction Recently, I became curious about LiPo characteristics and quirks. What causes the drop-off in responsiveness over time? Why does power seem to fall off a cliff at the end of capacity? Why do throttle punch outs cause my flight controller to brown out when the battery is low? What makes one battery better than Read more about LiPo Characteristics Part 1: Introduction[…]

If you fly micro/nano quads, you probably use a bunch of single cell LiPos. The balance charger I use for my 3S and 4S packs (Accucel S60) doesn’t support 1S batteries. In order to take advantage of some of the features of the charger (charge/discharge to storage, measuring IR, etc) I decided to make a Read more about DIY Charging Harness for 1S Batteries[…]